Sticky Blogging: Helping Your Readers Feel At Home on Your Blog

You have Great Content and Amazing Traffic, But Nobody is Sticking Around, WHY?

A friend of mine asked me recently on Facebook: ”…how to get readers to your blog and keep them there– i.e., how to make them feel at home.”

My friend has a great site. She has a lot of traffic and great content but she is having trouble getting people to simply stick around and make them feel at home. So I scoured my favorite blogs to find out some ways she could get sticky readers or basically reduce her blog’s bounce rate.

In my recent experiences I have noticed the more I write content my readers want with a combination letting my readers know more about me and my blog, the more engaged they are on my here. This has prompted me to create my Marketing Strategy which is a combination of great content and engagement on my blog and everywhere else I frequent.

How do you get sticky readers?

Start off by analyze top bloggers in your niche.

Darren Rowse in 31 Days to a Better Blog, Day 4, talks about hanging out at top blogs in your niche. These blogs are at the top of their game and get a lot of engagement in comments and social media. What are they doing right? Just watch. What strategies do they use? What tips can you gain? What is missing that you would want on your blog?

Now mimic. Test for a month. Analyze. Change what is needed.

Get people to click more.

Clicking more often within your site not only keeps them on your site but as they look around they get to know your blog and you.

Be sure to have areas such as an About Me, Categories, Recent Posts and Most Popular Posts. Entice people to stay on your blog.

I have been using Pretty Link Pro for a while to help me effortlessly showcase my About Me and Newsletter links. I simply enter keywords into the plugin software, it finds them throughout my blog and links them to the posts I want, automatically. It can be used for any post you like, this way popular posts can automatically get linked as you publish.

Get readers to engage on your blog.

Your blog is a community that includes you and your readers. Talk to people, answer their comments. Welcome them. (When you create a welcome page be sure to place it in prime blog property for everyone to see, i.e above the fold.)

Ask readers questions. Write your story about your experiences. Leave out information, and then readers will feel the need to add their own content in the comment section.

Engage outside your blog.

Social media, other blogs and forums are great places to start showing off your expertise and personality. Sometimes simply being around often and writing what you think can help people to see your personality and may be attracted to check out your blog. You don’t need to give any personal details, simple conversation on a topic can show what you are thinking.

Visit other blogs like yours or where your readers hang out and comment often.

Finally, Keep Them Coming Back

The impression you made on your readers will keep them coming back. They will find your content interesting and they feel they know you.

But there is more to blogging. Your blog itself can bring people back. What you place where counts. You want to be sure your readers can contact you whenever they need to. They like your blog and they will want to also know you in Social Media. So be sure to place these links/images in obvious places.